Is Microsoft 'Reaping the Rewards' From Open-Sourcing Its .NET Core?

An anonymous reader quote InfoWorld:
Two years ago Microsoft did the unthinkable: It declared it would open-source its .NET server-side cloud stack with the introduction of .NET Core… Thus far, the move has paid off. Microsoft has positioned .NET Core as a means for taking .NET beyond Windows. The cross-platform version extends .NET’s reach to MacOS and Linux…

Developers are buying in, says Scott Hunter, Microsoft partner director program manager for .NET. “Forty percent of our .NET Core customers are brand-new developers to the platform, which is what we want with .NET Core,” Hunter says. “We want to bring new people in.” Thanks in considerable part to .NET Core, .NET has seen a 61% uptick in the number of developers engaged with the platform in the past year.
The article includes an interesting quote from Microsoft-watching analyst Rob Sanfilippo. “It could be argued that the technology generates indirect revenue by incenting the use of Azure services or Microsoft developer tools.”